The aim of this investigation was to get an insight into how teachers and students responded to the use of virtual learning environments (VLE) in engineering education and what their expectations were from online courses. Teachers designed their online courses with the assistance of a support e-learning team and questionnaires were used for…

Computer programming skills constitute one of the core competencies that graduates from many disciplines, such as engineering and computer science, are expected to possess. Developing good programming skills typically requires students to do a lot of practice, which cannot sustain unless they are adequately motivated. This paper reports a…

This study presents a mobile exploration activity that guides elementary students to learn during a social science activity with digital support from mobile devices and wireless communications. The students are situated in both the real world and the virtual world to extend their learning experiences. The learning activities between the field and…

Online education has a presence in most Australian universities, and its uptake has been broadly understood as being driven by external imperatives associated with intensive competition within the global knowledge economy. However, the implementation of online education does not take place uniformly, and tensions can arise as a consequence of the…

This paper describes the production of a software program for Master of Education students studying the "Introduction to Research Methods" course at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The course was originally delivered in a lecture mode, which proved unsatisfactory in providing sufficient learning support for the students. The paper…

E-learning has been a hot topic for academics, technical researches, and practices because there is a need to employ advancements in technologies to support the education process and help academics and universities. E-learning, together with classical learning, can further enhance the learning process through the benefits of the new technologies.…

Facilitation is a key factor in ensuring the success of class discussions. Traditionally, instructors are the ones who assume the role of facilitators in discussions. Online learning environments open opportunities for students to assume the role of facilitators. In well-designed online learning communities, spontaneous facilitation would likely…

As online learning environments continue to evolve, both teachers and students need to adapt to make the most of opportunities afforded by these environments for teaching and learning. The focus of this paper is on the changing role undertaken by tutors in online learning environments. We present a brief review of the current perspectives on the…

Wiki tools, which became known mainly thanks to the Wikipedia encyclopedia, represent quite a new phenomenon on the Internet. The work presented here deals with three areas connected to a possible use of wiki tools for the preparation of an e-learning course. To what extent does Wikipedia.com contain terms necessary for scientific lectures at the…

This article reports the findings of a case study that investigated the perceptions of international students regarding the impact of cultural differences on their learning experiences in an online MBA program. The study also revealed that online instructors need to design courses in such a way as to remove potential cultural barriers, including…

This paper reported on the findings of research into innovation in e-learning design and assessment through the development and implementation of online learning activities (e-tivities). The focus of the study was on Carpe Diem as a process to enable academic course teams to seize 2 days to design and embed pedagogically appropriate e-tivities…

As online learning continues to grow each year, so do the number of new media and Web 2.0 technologies faculty have at their disposal, yet the majority of online courses remain heavily text-based. Online learning often mirrors the traditional classroom, with a focus on read and write (and at times discuss)--sometimes with good reason. One of the…

Education, and in particular higher education, has seen rapid change as learning institutions have had to adapt to the opportunities provided by the Internet to move more of their teaching online and to become more flexible in how they operate. It might be tempting to think that such a period of change would lead to a time of consolidation and…

Given the crucial role played by universities in a knowledge-based society, understanding how and under what conditions online learning (OL) can improve access to graduate studies is of the highest importance to today's growing global economy. Over the past decade, phenomenal advances have been made in the application of communication and…

Case study methodology was used to describe the challenges experienced in the development of a virtual component for a freshman-level undergraduate course. The purpose of the project was to use a virtual environment component to provide an interactive and engaging learning environment. While some student and faculty feedback was positive, this…